What Master Degree goes well with a Bachelor in Criminal Justice? (psychology, master's)
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You don't need a lot of prerequisites for a graduate program in psychology. At most, they'll make you take intro, lifespan, abnormal psychology, and statistics. Many programs require two prerequisite courses or less.
You should figure out what you want to do and what degree you need to get there. Trying to figure out which graduate degree will pair nicely with your CJ degree is a terrible way of planning your career.
Now, you will need a lot of prerequisites and maybe even a second degree to get into a masters program in CS. Cybersecurity programs are easier to get into, but the ones that don't require a technical bachelors or related work experience are often policy-oriented programs that don't teach you the technical skills you need to be marketable. Plus, you usually need experience in other IT fields before entering cybersecurity. If you get a masters in cybersecurity and apply for jobs without experience, you're going to be beat out by people with bachelors degrees, or even no degree, who have years of experience.
CJ seems like a natural pairing for law school, but CJ majors are actually among the most likely to fail at being accepted into law school due to low LSAT scores. When I was doing a literature review for a research paper, I came across an article that said that law schools show no preference for CJ majors. In some cases, they have a lower opinion of CJ majors.
There is no good pairing for law school. What they care about most are LSAT scores and GPA.
And, do not plan your education around getting into the CIA or any other three-letter agency. It's extremely competitive. What are you going to do if you don't get hired by the feds?
As someone else asked, why did you major in CJ in the first place? It sounds like you picked a major without a specific goal in mind, and you're looking to make the same mistake again.
Most law enforcement and corrections jobs don't require a degree anyway. Parole and probation do require degrees in most states. A lot of CJ majors end up in community supervision or social services. Being a cop or jailer are not the only options.
As just one example. Anyone can do a simple search and find many more examples just like this. I just don't have time to dispute another silly STEM circle jerk at the moment.
Edited to add: I don't really want to argue this, as someone kindly pointed out through DM. I just want to help the OP, who is already near completion of his/her CJ degree. So whether you think the undergrad in CJ was worth the investment is an afterthought at this point. We need to focus on helping the OP find the best technical degree that he/she can pair with his/her current degree.
If you were in the military, you know how it works. The military will ask you what you want, and then assign you to where the need is. Chances are not that great that the OP will get selected for OCS and get the branch he wants. That's why CJ majors get assigned to ADA batteries, and Finance majors end up in the Military Police Corps, but you know that. He can go enlisted and get the MOS of his choice if he wants to, but he needs to have a plan and think about a career path before enlisting.
I never brought up STEM degrees, and I have little patience for people who knock Liberal Arts degrees, but some degrees are more marketable than others when it come to certain types of employment.
You are right, any fool can pull up a sight on Google or Wiki. I am sure every alphabet agency has a CJ degree holder as an employee; that does not make it a desirable or competitive degree for that agency.
I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that between us I am the only one with with several CJ degrees. I will go further out and speculate that I am the only one of us who has taught CJ at a university. Now, I am also going to speculate that I am the only one who has a successful career in law enforcement.
Hold on, because now I am going to go way out to the end of the limb and speculate that between us I am the only one who speaks with federal agents from multiple agencies specifically about degrees that makes one a desirable candidate. A CJ degree is never on the list, and, frequently, it is a degree that is discouraged. My advice is based on real world experience and knowledge -- not what I find on the internet.
I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that between us I am the only one with with several CJ degrees. I will go further out and speculate that I am the only one of us who has taught CJ at a university. Now, I am also going to speculate that I am the only one who has a successful career in law enforcement.
Hold on, because now I am going to go way out to the end of the limb and speculate that between us I am the only one who speaks with federal agents from multiple agencies specifically about degrees that makes one a desirable candidate. A CJ degree is never on the list, and, frequently, it is a degree that is discouraged. My advice is based on real world experience and knowledge -- not what I find on the internet.
I'm not trying to argue relative value of the degree. But it exists for some reason. There are entire degree programs and career-oriented websites dedicated to the field of Criminal Justice. What's the point that this degree serves if they are deemed not valuable to any criminal justice related job? What are all the criminal justice majors out there doing for a living? Honest question; I don't know other than what the Internet tells me.
When I was in college, I was actually dating a girl that was pursuing a Criminal Justice degree at some no-name, 3rd tier university, and she had been interviewing with the FBI. It's been over 10 years since I last communicated with her, so I don't know what she ended up doing. But the point is that these CJ degree holders are out there doing something, and the data tends to support that they are doing something in relevant fields. So I'm truly sorry that it didn't work out for you (that ****ing sucks, I get it), but that doesn't mean that it can't work out for somebody else.
At any rate, OP's OP was about finding something to pair with the CJ degree that he is about to complete. So, as someone with lots of experience with CJ, couldn't you use your time better here to explain to him what options might be available to him, if not in law enforcement, then elsewhere with supplemental education? What about CJ with an emphasis in accounting? Or cyber security?
Just a thought.
Last edited by Left-handed; 01-11-2018 at 03:17 PM..
Edited to add: I don't really want to argue this, as someone kindly pointed out through DM. I just want to help the OP, who is already near completion of his/her CJ degree. So whether you think the undergrad in CJ was worth the investment is an afterthought at this point. We need to focus on helping the OP find the best technical degree that he/she can pair with his/her current degree.
Sunk cost, am I right?
...putting my 'intro to microeconomics' course experience to use by saying that
I'm not trying to argue relative value of the degree. But it exists for some reason. There are entire degree programs and career-oriented websites dedicated to the field of Criminal Justice. What's the point that this degree serves if they are deemed not valuable to any criminal justice related job? What are all the criminal justice majors out there doing for a living? Honest question; I don't know other than what the Internet tells me.
When I was in college, I was actually dating a girl that was pursuing a Criminal Justice degree at some no-name, 3rd tier university, and she had been interviewing with the FBI. It's been over 10 years since I last communicated with her, so I don't know what she ended up doing. But the point is that these CJ degree holders are out there doing something, and the data tends to support that they are doing something in relevant fields. So I'm truly sorry that it didn't work out for you (that ****ing sucks, I get it), but that doesn't mean that it can't work out for somebody else.
At any rate, OP's OP was about finding something to pair with the CJ degree that he is about to complete. So, as someone with lots of experience with CJ, couldn't you use your time better here to explain to him what options might be available to him, if not in law enforcement, then elsewhere with supplemental education? What about CJ with an emphasis in accounting? Or cyber security?
Just a thought.
I have never applied to any federal agency, and my degree worked out for me just fine. You will find the majority of CJ holders (of those that actually go into a related career field) working at state and local agencies where the degree is valued. The degree holds much more value locally than it does federally. That is a simple fact. You can chose to believe it or not. I never said that a CJ degree was "not valuable to any criminal justice related job." The degree has varying value depending on the job in question. The CJ degree holders that I know that did not go into law enforcement all ended up going back to school and getting a second undergrad in the field they wanted to work in.
An FBI agent I spoke with told me that it was much easier to get hired with a CJ degree "back in the day" than it is now. He actively discourages any potential candidates from majoring in CJ.
I don't feel qualified to tell the OP what to do with his degree outside of law enforcement. What I do know is that if one wants to go to a federal agency, one needs a better undergrad degree than CJ in order to maximize your chances of being hired (which is the opposite of state and local law enforcement, where a degree of any kind -- including the CJ degree -- helps maximize your chances of being hired. For some agencies, a CJ degree is the preferred degree.) For undergrad, that includes hard sciences, accounting, and computer science. That does not mean that a CJ grad will never get hired, but it means that they are already starting out behind the curve in a very competitive process. Military service can help if you have the right specialty. There are more than a few high speed low drag combat veterans apply for federal gigs. There are also guys and gals getting out with solid computer or intel skills and security clearances. If the OP wants an alphabet agency gig, I suggest he speak with various recruiters to see what he can do to make himself a more desirable candidate. And he needs to press the issue because he may very well get, "all degree holders are welcome to apply" which is true, but it doesn't tell you the whole story. You can also speak with local agents. The ones I know are willing to chat for a few minutes about the career field, and may be more likely to give a straight answer about the best path to take. If the OP has an affinity for computer science, I would go that route.
Last edited by joe from dayton; 01-11-2018 at 07:01 PM..
I'm not sure about now, but back in the stone age when I went to college, getting into a graduate program in psychology carried higher odds than getting into medical school (because there were far more applicants). It was not uncommon to see schools with thousands of applications for the 20 or so openings that they had every year. Getting a Ph. D. in psychology was my original goal, and I quickly learned that it wasn't realistic.
I'm not sure about now, but back in the stone age when I went to college, getting into a graduate program in psychology carried higher odds than getting into medical school (because there were far more applicants). It was not uncommon to see schools with thousands of applications for the 20 or so openings that they had every year. Getting a Ph. D. in psychology was my original goal, and I quickly learned that it wasn't realistic.
It certainly is not easy.
My daughter has a 3.9 GPA undergrad, exemplary GRE scores (or whatever test it is) and a second author publication. She applied to about a dozen psychology PhD/Masters programs in her field. She was accepted to 3. She learned that you can appeal if you get rejected, but discovered that too late. One school, they seemed to love her during the interviews, told her they could not wait to work with her, then she was rejected. Had she appealed, it seems likely she would have had a chance of getting accepted. However few people know you can appeal a rejection. It is not publicized.
Getting a PhD and getting a job as also two very different things. She is now in her last year. Teacher at her college and getting paid a little as a grad student ($14,000 I think), but job prospects are complicated. More and more colleges and universities are moving away from tenure track professorships and instead hiring instructors or adjunct professors. You need some major publications to have much of a chance at those jobs.
I have never applied to any federal agency, and my degree worked out for me just fine. You will find the majority of CJ holders (of those that actually go into a related career field) working at state and local agencies where the degree is valued. The degree holds much more value locally than it does federally. That is a simple fact. You can chose to believe it or not. I never said that a CJ degree was "not valuable to any criminal justice related job." The degree has varying value depending on the job in question. The CJ degree holders that I know that did not go into law enforcement all ended up going back to school and getting a second undergrad in the field they wanted to work in.
An FBI agent I spoke with told me that it was much easier to get hired with a CJ degree "back in the day" than it is now. He actively discourages any potential candidates from majoring in CJ.
I don't feel qualified to tell the OP what to do with his degree outside of law enforcement. What I do know is that if one wants to go to a federal agency, one needs a better undergrad degree than CJ in order to maximize your chances of being hired (which is the opposite of state and local law enforcement, where a degree of any kind -- including the CJ degree -- helps maximize your chances of being hired. For some agencies, a CJ degree is the preferred degree.) For undergrad, that includes hard sciences, accounting, and computer science. That does not mean that a CJ grad will never get hired, but it means that they are already starting out behind the curve in a very competitive process. Military service can help if you have the right specialty. There are more than a few high speed low drag combat veterans apply for federal gigs. There are also guys and gals getting out with solid computer or intel skills and security clearances. If the OP wants an alphabet agency gig, I suggest he speak with various recruiters to see what he can do to make himself a more desirable candidate. And he needs to press the issue because he may very well get, "all degree holders are welcome to apply" which is true, but it doesn't tell you the whole story. You can also speak with local agents. The ones I know are willing to chat for a few minutes about the career field, and may be more likely to give a straight answer about the best path to take. If the OP has an affinity for computer science, I would go that route.
70's UD grad here, CJ major, FBI National Academy graduate living on a federal pension of 110K a year.
70's UD grad here, CJ major, FBI National Academy graduate living on a federal pension of 110K a year.
When I applied to the FBI, they told me for field agents they were only interested in Accountants, Engineers and JDs. Other majors for some of the behind the scenes people.
That may well have changed. 1988 was a long time ago.
I still sometimes regret not taking that path. What killed it for me was when they told me I would live wherever they assigned me. Maybe even Alaska, Minnesota or Michgian. I said, "But I am moving to California" They said "that is not up to you" End of that idea.
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